LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined Hank Winchester with WDIV-Detroit to alert consumers that artificial intelligence (AI) is now being used by scammers to make their requests for money and personal information more convincing. 

AI is the science that enables machines to respond as humans do. It makes things like text message auto-correct and self-driving cars possible. Recently, it has become powerful enough to be able to convincingly mimic human writing and speech. Unfortunately, scammers have already started using these awesome new capabilities to prey on unsuspecting residents. 

In the video with Winchester, AG Nessel and members of the Consumer Protection Team, use an AI-created voice to call friends and family of the Attorney General, as well as staff throughout the department to test out how convincing this technology can be.  

Imposter scams were the most commonly reported scam in 2022. A recent McAfee survey found that seventy-seven percent of scam victims who received calls using AI reported losing money -- almost one-third of those lost more than $1,000. 

In an AI imposter scam, a person receives a call from a child or grandchild in trouble. Using AI technology, the scammer can recreate the voice of the caller’s loved one. The voice seems so much like the real thing that when the imposter begs the relative to send money to get them out of trouble, the relative often obliges. 

“It was only a matter of time before bad actors corrupted a useful technology like artificial intelligence for their own nefarious purposes,” Nessel said. “Don’t be taken in by scammers using voice cloning deceptions to pull at your heartstrings and steal your money."